Manufacture of chewing-gum.



, UNITED STATESPATENT .orrron.

jmmns-pfinanrmc, or rmnanminnm, rENNsYLvAmA, assrcnon r xriysronn' V TRADING COMPANY, A' oonrprmrrou or NEW JE-nsEY.

1,005,001. Ho Drawing.

To all whom/it may concern Be it known that'I, JAMEs'D. DARLING, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia; and State of Pennsylvama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 'in the Manufacture of Chewing-Gum, whereof the ed there results an intensely sticky viscous following is a specification.

-My invention relates to the preparation of rade rub.-

chewing gum from certain low bers, and particularly from Pontianak rubber. .7 e -I haverecently secured Letters Patent of the United States No. 907,748,.iiated December 29th, 1908, for chewing gum thus manufactured, and I have described in that patent the process which I consider preferable for converting Pontianak rubber into a chewing gum, namely, to subject the cleansed Pontianak to a kneading operation at a temperature of about two or three hundred'degrees Fahrenheit, by which process the elasticity of the rubber content of Pontianak is almost wholly destroyed or broken down so that the mass is entirely suitable for mastication. Although I prefer to treat the rubber as described in this application yet I have found that a satisfactory chewing gum may be manufactured from Pontianak rubber by a different process which I 80 will now describe and which forms the subject matter of the resent application. The difference etween my process, previously patented, and the present one is chiefly dependent upon the question of tem- Il perature. A mass ofPontianak rubber begins to melt at about the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This is lower than the ordinary melting point of india rubber, and I believe that the li uefaction of the mass M which occurs at this temperature is not really a melting of the rubber content of the Pontianak, but is rather a process of solution of the india rubber in the melted resinouscontent, for the melting point of resin is 46 lower than that of rubber.

Unless it is subjected to a'temperature sufliciently high to effect liquefaction, the mass of Pontia-nak rubber remains too tough and elastic to be utilized as a chewing gum,

60 unless subjected to a kneading process as described\in my patentto which I have made reference, but the higher the temperature,

short ofthe melting-point, at which this kneading operation is carried on, the more rapidly is-the elastic structure of the rubber Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 30, 1909. Serial No. 475,180.

. vious patent.

MANUFACTURE or CHEWING-GUM.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

= broken down or tired out, and the mass converted into a plastic substance, suitable -foi' a chewing gum. But if the heating of the mass be carried to the .rnelting point, the nature of the substance, 'becomes greatly changed. 'If pure india rubberis thus meltjecting this to a melting or liquefying proces's,as I- w ill describe, a satisfactorychewi- -in'g gum may be produced without resorting 'to the kneading process. As above explained,'thi's may, and. in my belief is, due to the fact that the india rubber itself is not actually melted, but ismerely dissolved withinthe melting resin, and'consequently issddifiused through the mass as to lose its elasticity; but, however this may be, I find that I am able to produce by the process to be described, a chewing gum from Pontianak which has been melted without the use of any lmeadingprocess.

I take the crude Pontianakof commerce and after cleaning it and cutting it up in small pieces, 'Iplace it in a suitable receptacle, and boilit for a considerable time in an alkaline solution as described in my pre- When removed from the alkaline liquor and washed, this mass is odorless and tasteless and consists of a spongy mixture of rubber and resin in the proportions in which they occur in Pontianak rubber, to wit, 1 to 3. It is still however, tough and elastic. .I take this purified spongy mass and heat it to the point of liquefaction. The first evidences of this be gin to appear at about 325 degrees Fahrefiheit, but the temperature may be raised to l a considerably higher point than this, al-

though it must not be raised too high, as at about 450 degrees, a destructive distillation r properly maintaining and regulating a temperature of this character, as for instance, an air bath, or a sand bath, or a vessel jacketed for high pressure steam. When the mass has become liquefied, at say a temperature of between 350 and 400 degrees, it 1s stirred gently, and kept in this condition a for about fifteen minutes. .W'hile in this I perature of about 300 degrees, at which condition it is desirable to add about five per cent. of a pure vegetable wax, or some other waxy substance, which I find aids in giving the product precisely the required consistency. Themass is then allowed to cool in the same receptacle down to a tempoint I add about ten per cent. of hot water.

a This isreadily absorbed, the mass being stirred gently until the whole is homogeneous, The addition of this water destroys the tackiness of the product which is then poured off into inolds and allowed to cool, and harden. In this state the product should be set aside for some weeks, for I have found that its quality improves by being allowed to stand for a considerable time. Theues'ult-ing product still contains a resinous and rubber content in approximately the proportions in which they occur in Pontianak rubber, but the nature of the rubber content has been so changed by its dissolution or dissemination in'the melted I resin as to be deprived of its elasticity and into a chewing gum which consists in heatm sa1d rubber to the melting point and then allowing the mass to cool and set.

2. The process of manufacturing chewing gum which consists in subjecting crude Pontianak rubber to a purifying process,

heating the purified mass until it melts adding a small percentage of water to the melted mass, and allowing it to. cool and set. y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- Vania, this twenty-seventh day of January 1909.

JAMES D. DARLING.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. BELL, E. L. FULLERTON. 

